Betsy Henning | @AHAWriters
Founder & CEO
AHA!
Language as a Virus: Why a Sustainability Story
Spreads, or Doesn’t

How do you get your sustainability
story to spread?
Language is a virus

Hello!

AHA! Language is a virus | 3

1Can you hear me?

1,000%
100%
10%
1%
.1%
.01%
.001%
.0001%
.00001%
.000001%
1960 1980 2000 2020 2040 2060 2080 2100 2120 2140
YEAR
PRESENT DAY
2036
2061
2109
AHA! Language is a virus | 6
All sentences are just the word
“sustainable” repeated
over and over.
“Sustainable” occurs an
average of once
per sentence.
“Sustainable” occurs an
average of once
per page.
Frequency
of the word
“Sustainable” in
U.S. English
text, as a
percentage
of all words,
by year.
Source: Google Ngrams
Original
thanks
for
XKCD.com.
We
re-­‐created
their
work
for
readability.

“The language we’re using is too technical,
too complex, and not relatable. People in other
parts of the business are tuning us out.”
Hannah Jones,
Chief Sustainability Officer, Nike

“The language of conscience-free
shopping is a clunky vocabulary that instantly
brings to mind images of hemp kaftans, recycled
tin-can bags, and other things I’d rather not
swathe my body in, thanks.”
Alexa Chung, in British Vogue

when it needs
to unite us.
The language
divides us

7
deadly sins
of sustainability
communications

Lacking
emotion1
AHA! Language is a virus | 11

Too
emotional2
AHA! Language is a virus | 12

Too technical
and wonky3
AHA! Language is a virus | 13

Jargon-y
4
AHA! Language is a virus | 14

5 Ambiguous
AHA! Language is a virus | 15

6 Just like everyone else
AHA! Language is a virus | 16

7 Disconnected
AHA! Language is a virus | 17

1. Lacking emotion
2. Too emotional
3. Too technical and wonky
4. Jargon-y
5. Ambiguous
6. Just like everyone else
7. Disconnected
7deadly sins
of sustainability
communications
AHA! Language is a virus | 18

What’s the impact?
Your story
AHA! Language is a virus | 19

Tell us about a time when
you said one thing and
the other person heard
something different.
Your turn
AHA! Language is a virus | 20

“If you talk to a man in a language
he understands, that goes to his head.
If you talk to him in his own language,
that goes to his heart.”
Nelson Mandela

2What is language?

AHA! Language is a virus | 24

Try this today
AHA! Language is a virus | 25

Words
AHA! Language is a virus | 26

AHA! Language is a virus | 27
Biscuit Cookie
Boot Trunk
Lorry Truck
Chips French fries
Car park Parking lot
Bloke Guy

Green
Impact
Environmentally
friendly
Responsible
Sustainable
Stewardship
Materiality
Footprint Natural
Organic
Eco-friendly
AHA! Language is a virus | 28

Syntax
AHA! Language is a virus | 29

“Learn a new language and
get a new soul.”
Czech proverb

AHA! Language is a virus | 31
La langue peut vous faire une personne différente?
Μπορεί γλώσσα που ένα διαφορετικό πρόσωπο κάνει;
¿Puede idioma que una persona diferente hacer?
Can language make you a different person?
?

“I feel ruder and more
aggressive in Greek, clear and
concise in French, and creative
and long-winded in English.”
Jacques
AHA! Language is a virus | 32

AHA! Language is a virus | 33

If you speak two or more languages,
what does it feel like to speak in
different languages?
Your turn
AHA! Language is a virus | 34

Tense
AHA! Language is a virus | 35

Language influences
how we think and what we do.
It rains
tomorrow
It will rain
tomorrow
AHA! Language is a virus | 36
Morgen regnet es

AHA! Language is a virus | 37
Body language

Language isn’t just what you say,
it’s how you say it.
AHA! Language is a virus | 38

AHA! Language is a virus | 39

Try this today
Hand
gestures
Vocal variety
Smile
AHA! Language is a virus | 40

Visual language
AHA! Language is a virus | 41

People remember…
10%of what they
hear
20%of what they
read
80%of what they
see and do
AHA! Language is a virus | 42

AHA! Language is a virus | 43
Articles that
contain images
get 94% more
views than
articles without.

Emoji is a rapidly evolving language.
AHA! Language is a virus | 45

AHA! Language is a virus | 46

3Now what?

Pause
to boost comprehension
AHA! Language is a virus | 48
Try this today

Watch your
words
AHA! Language is a virus | 49
Try this today

Actively listen
to create dialogue
AHA! Language is a virus | 50
Try this today

Focus on an immediate
benefit
AHA! Language is a virus | 51
Try this today

Use your
body
AHA! Language is a virus | 52
Try this today

Go beyond
words
AHA! Language is a virus | 53
Try this today

4Case studies

Levi’s

“Don’t wash the stories out
of your Levi’s jeans.”
Paul Dillinger, Head of Global Product Innovation at Levi Strauss & Co.

1 billion liters of water

Code REDD: Dear Future Generations
Video embed TK

Tiffany & Co.

“Now if you know anything about gold mining,
you know it can be a dirty business.”
Speech excerpt

“We stopped treating diamonds like mysterious
objects of unknown pedigree, and started treating
them more like the natural but knowable treasures
they are. Each unique, each precious, but each
with a history that matters as much as
the cut, color and clarity.”
Speech excerpt

Tiffany & Co.

Storytelling at its best

Pope Francis

“Any harm done to the environment,
therefore, is harm done to humanity.”
Pope Francis, Speech to U.N. General Assembly, September 2015

“We lack a cultural narrative that says sustainability
is really important … Pope Francis has spent the past year
speaking about diversity, inclusion, “integral ecology”
and “integral human development.” He is sketching
a cultural narrative.”
A Day for an Ecology-Minded Pope and Sustainable Development Goals,”
Andrew C. Revkin, New York Times, September 25, 2015

Breakthrough methods

Breakthrough session
1
Simon says…

1. Lacking emotion
2. Too emotional
3. Too technical and wonky
4. Jargon-y
5. Ambiguous
6. Just like everyone else
7. Disconnected
7deadly sins
of sustainability
communications
AHA! Language is a virus | 77

Share an example of a sustainability
message or campaign from each of your
organizations that was well received.
• How did you use language to get your
point across?
• What happened as a result?
• What lessons did you learn?
Share your story
Share examples that did not go well.
• How did your audience respond?
• What would you do differently if you had
the chance?
• Do you think any of the language tools we
discussed today could have changed the
conversation?
1 2
Breakthrough session
2

Breakthrough session
3
1 Your group will get maps for two different people.
2 Complete the first empathy map. What is this person
hearing, thinking, seeing, saying, doing and feeling
about sustainability right now?
3 Based on your map, what words or phrases and
nonverbal tools would you use to craft an effective
sustainability message or story?
4 Complete the second map. How does your approach
shift when speaking to a different audience?
Empathy mapping

Breakthrough session
4
1 Every person needs a blank sheet
of paper.
2 First player: Write a common
sustainability concept (shared
value, circular economy). Pass it to
the next player without revealing it
to anyone else.
3 Second player: Draw a picture
that represents the phrase on a
fresh piece of paper. Pass it to the
next player.
4 Third player: Write a phrase that
expresses the drawing. Pass it to the
next player.
5 Alternate like this (draw/write) until
the last person is done.
6 Reveal the original phrase. How do
the drawings help convey the idea?
What symbols or other visual ideas
emerge?
Visual thinking

Breakthrough session
5
How would your group advise Amory Lovins to use all his
language tools to make his message more powerful?

Q&A

Review me!
betsy@aha-writers.com
@ahawriters
@betsy_henning